Last night the Kings went down in six game and while the end result wasn’t too shocking, the series was a lot closer than scanning the scores would indicate. Getting beaten badly in just one game while hanging in there or folding up the tents in historical fashion in the others the Kings proved they were a more than formidable opponent. Still, things didn’t go their way. So what went wrong? Let us count the ways.

1. Overtime failure
While it could be a sign of pride and proof that the Kings gave the Sharks all they could handle, the cold hard facts were that when the game went to overtime, L.A. was going to lose. Three times in this series the game went to overtime and three times the Kings lost. After being outshot in virtually every game and forcing Jon Quick to have to stand on his head, playing with fire like that will get you burned.

Sadly enough for Kings fans, this wasn’t the first time they’ve lost three overtimes in a playoff series. The last time it happened? 1993 during the Stanley Cup final against Montreal. Ouch.

2. Faceoff problems
Not winning faceoffs means not winning games Winning faceoffs is an underrated aspect of the game. In Los Angeles it was a completely unknown part of the game. The Kings as a team won just 44.5% of their faceoffs against San Jose, by far the worst in the playoffs. Their lone bright spot in the circle was Jarret Stoll who won 54.8% of his draws. The other three main guys that took them? Awful.

Michal Handzus took the most faceoffs in the series and won just 41.8% of them. Brad Richardson was 42.9% from the circle and Trevor Lewis was the worst of them all at 40%. If you’re not winning faceoffs, you’re not controlling the game or getting the puck back in the offensive zone. If you’re wondering if Anze Kopitar would’ve helped out here… Not so much. He won 49.9% of his faceoffs during the regular season, third best on the team.

3. Jon Quick had to do way too much
Making your starting goalie have to work too much and stop too many shots is a recipe for disaster. The Kings made Jon Quick earn his paycheck and thensome in the playoffs. While Quick was able to get a shutout in Game 2 and stop 51 shots in Game 5 to help the Kings win there, every game was like being in a shooting gallery for him. On average Quick faced 38.2 shots per game in the series with San Jose. His shots faced in each game? 45, 34, 36, 27, 52, 35.

The scary part of all this? The Kings blocked 117 shots, the most in the playoffs. When you’re getting beaten like this it makes life hard on everyone to stand tall, especially when you’re laying out to block shots. It’s tough to win games when you’re being outshot on average by ten shots a game (L.A. averaged 28.2 shots per game). It’s crazy to think Quick could’ve been a lot busier through those six games.

4. Carelessness
Care to guess which team in the playoffs gave up the puck like it was covered in Ebola? Yup, it was the Kings. The Kings had 79 giveaways through six games. Not keeping a hold on the puck is obviously a major issue especially when the other team is spending the majority of the game in your zone peppering your defense and goalie with shots. While both teams were good about giving up the puck (Sharks had 71 giveaways) with the Kings being in the position they were in throughout most of the series, giving away the puck did them no favors.

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The Kings show a lot of promise. They’ll have to find ways to hang with the better teams (San Jose was certainly one of those) and Dean Lombardi is in a great position heading into next season. The Kings are loaded with talent and they’ve got a goalie tandem that can keep themselves fresh heading into the postseason next year.

With Kopitar coming back, Brayden Schenn getting a real chance to shine, and the Kings delving into the free agency waters to find a legitimate second center to be a playmaker for them (imagine a Kopitar and Brad Richards one-two punch up the middle) they’ll be just fine.